Ice breaker



" Feb. 5, 1924.

J. A. ELLgs ICE BREAKER 2 Sheets-Sheet a Filed Dec. 20. 1922 JOHN Arianna" ELLIS', or IBERVIQLE'BE, "chienne son Brt-BAKER.

\ Application ala December 2o, 1922. serial m3; 608,130.

To @ZZ whom t may concern- Be it known that I, JOHN ALBERT Ennis, a subject of the King of Great Britain,

and residentof the village of Iberville, in

the Province of Quebec andDominionof Canada, have invented certain new and use-1v ful Improvements in Ice Breakers, of which the following is a' specification.

gable water-ways of ice. The objects of the invention are to." properform the various functions required of them when in operation.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists essentially in the novel construction and arrangement of parts as described in the present specification and illustrated by the accompanying drawings forming part of the same.

Referring to the drawings, in which like r characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each ligure,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the ice breaker with parts cut away showing the ballast tanks.

Figure 2 is a top plan view.

Figure 8 is a perspective detail of the caterpillar mechanism, showing the ice breaking teeth.

Figure 4 is a cross section.

In the drawings, A designates a power propelled boat or the like, here shown as steam driven and provided with the usual propeller B, while mounted on the bow of the boat are the ice breakers C, D representing the engine and mechanism for driving the ice breakers.

The icel breaker C comprises in combination with the bow 10 of the boat and upper and lower supporting brackets 11 and 11a, a. plurality of spaced guide-ways suitably mounted on said brackets and designed to extend outwardly in triangular formation, as shown in Figure 1. These guideways or frames are formed of channel iron and are provided with a plurality of rollers 13 on which are designed to travel the endless caterpillar chain members 111 formed with the ice gripping and breaking teeth 15. rlhe chains 1a are adapted link by link to engage with suitably formed (here shown as hexagonal) pulleys 17, 18 and 19 mounted in each terne effihetiangisrefined by the guideways 12.1These1pulleys 17, 18'v and 19.are

mounted `respectively.onpshafts 20, 21-` and 22, shaft 20,;-eXtending .transversely through the f apicesofthe guide-ways, 12l and shafts 21 4and 22,;eXtending, transversely'one above theother and mounted on'the `brackets 11 This invention relates to improvements in 1 ice breakers and more particularly tothat` type of ice breaker for use in clearing navi- 22:. constitutes; ,the ,maia z driving means for thecaterpillar.chainsll and. is connected through gearwheels23 on the shaft 22 with :gear wheels; 24j; onythe auxiliary .driving ,"Slaft, 2.6.4 x 2,7 is the: l'main .driving shaft of vide an efficient and economicalice breaker, in which the severalparts @willsatisfactorily4 theyengine and isy chain :connected tofthe auxiliaryshaft 26 .by twois-pocket '.wheels u28 on the former and sprocket wheels 29 on the latter.

30 are fly wheels on the main shaft 27 and 31 is a gear thereon designed to mesh with the gear 32 of the engine mechanism, whereby, by means of a lever member 33, the said driving mechanism for the ice breakers is controlled. 34 are ballast tanks in the front and rear of the boat designed in combination with the ice breaking mechanism to reinforce same by means of added weight when the boat is moving. 35 is an adjustable box for the shaft 20 operated by an adjusting screw 36, whereby the shaft 20 is moved backwards and forwards to slacken or tighten, as may be required, the caterpillar chains 14.

F rom the foregoing it will be seen that I have invented an ice breaker designed on the caterpillar pattern with solid iron gripping and breaking teeth mounted on endless chains and on the bow of the boat and in such a way that the weight of the teeth, when in operation, will be reinforced by the forward moving power and weight of the boat, which may also be reinforced by means of ballast tanks, thus giving a tremendous power to the ice breakers, the idea being that as the endless chains are operated they will first grip the ice and draw the full weight of the boat as they revolve against it, thereby subjecting the ice to tremendous pressure from above and at the side. In other words, it is quite evident from visualizing the operation of my invention that it will be almost impossible` for any ice to withstand it.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of my inven tion within the scope of the claims, con` structed without departing from the spirit or scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification and drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. An ice breaker comprising in combina tion with the bow of a boat, supporting members on the boat, a plurality of spaced guide-ways mounted on the supports and designed to extend outwardly in triangular formation, rollers in said guide-ways and endless chains provided with ice gripping and breaking teeth mounted on said rollers, operating means for the chains comprising transversely extending shafts through said guide-ways having pulleys thereon designed to engage with the links of said chains, means connecting said shafts with suitable driving means on the boat whereby on the driving means being operated the teeth carrying chains are set in`motion to engage with and break the ice in combination with the forward movement of the boat, ballast' .ing means for one of said chain carrying versely extending shafts, having means thereon designed to engage with said chains, means connecting said shafts with suitable driving means whereby the teeth are set in motion to engage with and break the ice in combination with the forward movement of the ice breaker, ballasting tanks for the ice breaker, and adjustable mounting means for one of said chain carrying shafts.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN ALBERT ELLIS. Witnesses:

J os. Alun., ALEM BoUsQuIT. 

